Europe’s Sovereign Debt Crisis: Causes, Consequences for the United States and Lessons Learned

The United States and Europe together account for 50 percent of world GDP and 40 percent of the world’s trade in goods and services. With these two economies inexorably linked, a downturn in one immediately and broadly impacts the other. A catastrophic failure in Europe would threaten our own economic situation at a time we can least afford it.

Today, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will ask key questions of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke regarding the future outlook of the U.S. economy and the impact that Europe’s sovereign debt crisis is having on us.

This is a continuation of efforts begun in this Committee and at the Subcommittee level throughout the past year. In a time of a global economy, understanding the problems of one nation so we can avoid repeating their mistakes here is essential to our nation’s standing as a global leader.